2012 MENAUL PANTHER TRACK & FIELD WRAP UP

This past weekend both the boys and girls track teams participated in the New Mexico Class 1A State Track Meet.  Only a week after defending district titles both teams worked hard Friday and Saturday to earn points that would hopefully accumulate into a team trophy.  Both teams exceeded expectations throughout the weekend.

The Lady Panthers had numerous athletes compete over the two-day meet.  The following girls competed both Friday and Saturday: Holly Baca (100m, 200m, 4x100m, Long Jump & Triple Jump); Marya Mozumdar (4x200m); Liz Gomez (4x200m); Kelsie Cottrill (300m Hurdles, 4x200m); Ashdyn Monahan (100m Hurdles, 4x100m, 4x200m), and Anne Dunn (400m, 4x100m).  While all girls ran in the prelims on Friday it was Saturday that was most important.  Both the 4x100m and 4x200m relay teams qualified to run in the finals. Both teams finished in 8th place.  While all of the girls ran well, Holly Baca scored the only points of the day when she took 6th in the 100 meters and 5th in the 200 meters.

Over the past 3 years there have been some consistent finishes in 1A boys’ track and field.  One of those constants is the Menaul Panthers Track team who, since 2009, has finished in the top ten.  This year the team brought home the Runner-Up trophy!  The last time a boys’ track team earned a trophy was 1991 which was also the last time the Menaul Panthers won a state track title.

At the beginning of the day the boys were in 4th place.  Once the running events started they immediately surged to 3rd and then 2nd after the shot put had completed.  With 6 events left, the boys’ team was 6 points away from the leader Ft. Sumner.  As the day went along the battle was for second place as Mountainair came within a half of a point from evening the score.  As Mountainair inched closer, the final individual runners and throwers for the Panthers stepped up and put any hope of a second place tie out of reach.

All weekend the teams battled.  It was back and forth all day long Saturday and even though the team brought home a red trophy and not a blue, the season was more than a success.  It was a picture of hard work and determination that led to this finish.  Both teams defended their district titles, both teams scored points in the state track meet, and both teams met all of their expectations while exceeding others.

Congratulations to all of the boys and girls track and field athletes that competed this season.  This season was the most successful in 20 years.  All results can be found at www.nmact.org via the State Championships hyperlink.

Final Results

HOLLY BACA- 100m (6th), 200m (5th), Long Jump (14th), Triple Jump (10th), 4X100m (8th)

LIZ GOMEZ- 4X200m (8th)

MARYA MOZUMDAR- 4X200m (8th)

ANNE DUNN- 400m (11th), 4X100m (8th)

KELSIE COTTRILL- 300m Hurdles (15th), 4X100m (8th), 4X200m (8th)

ASHDYN MONAHAN- 100m High Hurdles (13th), 4X100m (8th), 4X200m (8th)

MATT FEDDERSEN- Triple Jump (2nd), Long Jump (4th), 110m High Hurdles (3rd), 300m Hurdles (4th), 4X100m (2nd)

BRENDAN HARLAN- Triple Jump (4th), Long Jump (3rd), 200m (3rd), 4X200m (6th), 4X400m (3rd)

GEOFF HUTTON- 200m (11th), 4X100m (2nd), 4X200m (6th), 4X400m (3rd)

MARKUS HARLAN- 200m (9th), 4X200m (6th)

CASEY BAKER- 100m (2nd), 400m (5th), 4X100m (2nd), 4X400m (3rd)

MICHAEL PRETTYMAN- 400m (16th)

BRANDYN MONAHAN- SHOT PUT (4th), DISCUS (17th)

DENNIS SMATANA- JAVELIN (2nd), SHOT PUT (13th), DISCUS (13th)

JOHN HOOD- 110m High Hurdles (4th)

DAVID LEVY- 300m Hurdles (6th)

ZHENYA DIADYURA- 4X100m (2nd), 4X200m (6th), 4X400m (3rd)

Track Team District 6-1A Champions

The Menaul School Panthers track and field teams finished the 2011 season as District
6-1A Champions. Both teams scored over 100 points and both teams finished 50 points
ahead of the second place finisher. Holly Baca and John Hood were the high point boy
and girl for the meet.
In addition to the win the boys crowned 13 District Champions and broke 1 school record
(Brendan Harlan, Triple Jump 41’3”). The 6 girls who competed accounted for 12
individual district champions. All of the individual event champions and runners up will
compete this weekend at the State Track Meet which is held at UNM.

2011 HIGHLIGHTS
• 2011 Boys District Champions
• 2011 Girls District Champions
• 25 District Champions (13 Boys/12 Girls)
• 38 State Qualifying Spots (13 Boys
• 1 School Record
• 2011 Triple Jump Brendan Harlan 41’3” / Previous Record Matt Feddersen
2011 40’3”

Track Team Starts the Season Strong

The Menaul Panther Track Team opened up the season by competing twice last week. First was on Tuesday at Menaul's opening home meet of the year; two days later they competed at Sandia Prep.

The team performed well throughout the week with the highlight being the boys 4x100 meter relay team (Markus Harlan, Casey Baker, Matt Feddersen, Brendan Harlan) which qualified for the state track meet with a time of 46.40 seconds. That same boys team also qualified in the 800 meter relay, running a 1.38.50. Two throwers also qualified for the state track meet, one in the discus (Dennis Smatana) with a throw of 119'5" and Danny Brawner in the shot put with a distance of 41'11". John Hood also qualified for the state track meet in the 110 hurdles running a 16.63 which puts him as the #3 runner in the state as of this morning.

Both the both the boys and girls track teams run three times this week and the middle school team will run twice this week.

Congratulations Panthers, keep up the great work!

Track and Field Tryouts Start February 7th.

Track and Field practice will begin on Monday Feb. 7th. Please see Coach Strohecker for more details.